The present invention relates generally to the manufacture and testing of micro-objects such as shaped tool heads or tips, and more particularly to the manufacture and testing of miniature tools incorporating or consisting of shaped structures.
Manufacturing and other processes pertaining to scanning probe microscopy, nanomachining, micromachining, machining, optics, biotechnology, and biomedicine often require highly specialized miniature tools. Such tools typically consist of a shaped tool head formed and parted from a diamond or other hard material workpiece and mounted on a body or handle. Present methods do not satisfactorily enable determining the sharpness or fineness of the tool head prior to its mounting to the tool body.